Kyle Olsen
About
Kyle Olsen is a horn player currently based in Washington State. A graduate of Central Washington University, Kyle has enjoyed a versatile career which includes performance experience in a variety of different genres and styles in places all across the United States. Kyle not only has played with multiple regional symphonies including the Yakima Symphony, the Mid-Columbia Symphony, and the Wenatchee Symphony, but also has experience with jazz and has played horn in both big bands and jazz combos on numerous occasions. Kyle has also played with chamber groups such as brass and woodwind quintets as well as his horn quartet, which has performed around the state. In addition to his playing experience, Kyle has been a private lessons teacher for five years working with students ranging from brand new beginners to college students. Kyle is a graduate of Central Washington University where he studied with Dr. Jeffrey Snedeker and is currently auditioning for graduate music programs.
When teaching lessons, my primary goal is to foster a love for music while creating well rounded musicians. In order to allow my students to find the most enjoyment in music making, I start off by making sure to establish a solid foundation which includes proper breathing and air support, a quality embouchure, good posture, and correct hand position among other things so that they form good habits that will make playing easier. As brass players, I believe it is especially important that we develop good aural skills on our instruments, so I make sure to include ear training and call and response playing into lessons right from the beginning. I try to encourage my students to develop skills like a good ear, improvisation, sight reading, and music theory because I believe these skills not only make us better musicians but also help improve our horn playing.
I firmly believe that music should be a fun experience, and I work to create a positive atmosphere where students are not only learning and improving at their instrument, but are also exploring the aspects of music that most interest them, so I like to use student curiosity and interests as a guide for what we acomplish in our lessons. That being said, I still also aim to expose my students to new ideas and push them to become well rounded musicians who have the tools they need to be successful horn players.